


Bravery

by Bi_lithiumcrystals



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fair game if you squint, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Missing Scene, Panic Attacks, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Post-episode v7c8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22339543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bi_lithiumcrystals/pseuds/Bi_lithiumcrystals
Summary: Weiss and Qrow encounter each other between episodes at the dinner party and discuss their respective panic from family and alcohol.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen & Weiss Schnee
Comments: 9
Kudos: 69





	Bravery

Weiss hurried through the halls, trying not to think about what her mother had said, focusing instead on the video she had been given. On trying to figure out who the man in the video was. Ironwood would probably be able to find out if they gave it to him, but she wasn't sure the team would agree to that. She didn't even know if _she_ thought that was what they should do. Whether or not to trust him and Winter was a subject she tried not to think about, but it was more appealing than thinking about her mother and Whitley right now. But her mind kept going back to them.

She had known, logically, that her father was only trying to hurt her when he told her how devastated her mother had been when she left, but it had still cut deep. And even then, it was another thing entirely to see it for herself. She couldn't pretend it was a lie- that Mother had probably barely noticed her absence- after seeing her. Even if she had basically said it was best for Weiss to stay away, she looked like a ghost. She was haunting her own home because everything that was hers- her home, her family, her name- had been slowly whittled away until all that was left was a hollow shell that she filled with wine and vodka as a poor substitute for all that had been taken.

Weiss wrung her wrists as she walked through the halls. She tried never to do it- it was improper, she had been told so many times- but her thoughts were so loud in her head and she had to do _something_ to quiet them. Besides, Winter did it, and Winter was the strongest person Weiss knew. She not only got herself out, but she had come back and helped Weiss escape to Beacon. Maybe she would know what to do in response to Mother's comment about Whitley.

She sighed. Whitley. Whom her friends had dumped wine on. She had hated the smell just standing next to him; she couldn't imagine what he had felt. He had never voiced it to her, but considering how much she and Winter hated- recoiled at- the stench of alcohol, she had a feeling that it had been a nightmare for him. She didn't want to think about it.

She wound her arms around chest, trying to breathe. She focused on the clack of her heels against the floor, the same noise they had made the last time she had escaped this prison masquerading as a home. And this time, she had all of her friends with her, ready to help. If she had made it out last time with only Klein, then this time she should- Klein. Klein had been let go because of her. He had lost his livelihood and Mother and Whitley had lost one of, if not the only, safe person in this house. Because of her.

The voice that had whispered in her head for so long- the voice that sounded so much like her father- had been right. She wasn't strong enough to do any of this. She couldn't help the people she loved be safe from one man, how did she fool herself into thinking she could protect others from monsters? That she could redeem herself and her family? That she could save the world? That she could change anything? She couldn't even be in her own home without panicking. Without screwing up and hurting people. She could never be who she wanted, she could never be enough.

She hugged herself tighter and tried to slow down her breathing, but she couldn't. She needed to get out of this house. She drew in a shaky breath as she hurried toward the balcony further down the hallway. She just needed fresh air and then she could pull herself together. She reached the doors and shoved through them and saw a figure leaning against the railing.

She took a step back, reaching for Myrtenaster, as he turned around and she recognized him. " _Qrow?_ What are you _doing_ up here? I thought you were patrolling the grounds!"

"I was," he raised his hands up in surrender as he took in her stance. "Just… with a bird's eye view," he ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed the back of his head. "But bird bodies aren't exactly good at keeping heat in, so I was taking a moment to think and warm up. I didn't expect anyone up here."

She dropped her stance and took a deep breath. At least the shock of finding him up here had shocked her out of her train of thought. She took a moment to collect herself, then gestured into the hall. "You'd probably be warmer inside."

He smirked as he leaned back against the railing. "I don't think I'd describe anything in that house as "warm.""

She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to decide if she should defend her family or accept the joke. After a moment of consideration, she stepped forward onto the balcony and rested her arms against the railing, facing the garden. "I don't think you're wrong in that assessment."

A moment passed in silence, both of them leaning on the rail, facing opposite directions. "Do you want to talk about it?" Qrow offered gently, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She turned her head toward him. "Do you?" she shot back, mostly sarcastic and a touch defensive.

He closed his eyes and sighed through his nose. After a moment, he opened them again and turned to face the garden as well. "That was the first time I'd actually been offered a drink since… y'know." She quirked an eyebrow at his apparent inability to refer to himself as sober, but didn't comment on it. He sighed again. "I didn't think it would be different than regular not-drinking, but having it in my face like that…"

He trailed off again and she didn't think he had an ending planned for his sentence this time. So she provided her own. "You thought that you had reached a point where you could put it all behind you, but once you were actually faced with it, it all came flooding back, making you feel like you're back at square one?"

He huffed a small laugh. "Something like that, yeah."

Her gaze dropped down to her hands as she contemplated what she was going to say. She had wanted to tell him since Ruby had told the team he was going sober, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to it. But now that she had just been so viscerally reminded of his alternative path, she decided to finally voice it. "I think you're very brave."

She could feel him looking at her at that. "Oh yeah?" he asked, something like amusement in his voice.

"I've just.. I've seen how dark the path gets when you drown yourself like that. And I'm pretty sure the reason people do that is because the darkness is a lot preferable than having to actually look at what's on the road. I think it takes a lot of strength to actively choose to light the way."

A few moments passed without a reply, and she saw him picking at his nails in her peripheral. She was pretty sure he was staring at his hands too.

"So the rumors are true, then?" he asked, a forced lightness in his voice.

She sucked in a tight breath, trying to figure out how to respond, if at all.

"Sorry if it's a sore subject," he offered.

"It's fine," she said. "I just… I thought I was passed all of this. I knew when I left that I'd have to deal with my family eventually, but definitely not this soon. I thought I would go to Winter and we'd figure out how to take everything back. But when I found out about Salem, all of my family stuff seemed so small in comparison. I was able to focus on the mission instead, and I thought that I had grown enough and gotten enough perspective that I could move on from all of this. But now I'm here and so are all of my old problems but they're so much worse. It's overwhelming and I feel like a failure because I thought that I could handle all of it and I can't." She knew it wasn't really what he had asked and she wasn't entirely sure what had made her confess it, but she had needed to. Saying it outloud didn't fix any of it, but at least it wasn't locked in her own head anymore.

"For what it's worth, I think you're the brave one, coming back here. Beyond brave," he said.

She turned to face him at that. "I don't feel brave," she said, dropping her gaze.

He laughed at that, "Yeah, and? You think I do?"

She looked back up at him, unsure of how to respond.

"Kid, I know what it's like to feel like you're doing everything wrong, but you've got to learn to trust the people around you are telling the truth when they point out what's right about you," he gave a small laugh and lifted his hand up. "Which, I know seems impossible when you're stuck in that headspace, but it _starts_ with not contradicting it."

She tilted her head and furrowed her brow. "That sounds surprisingly healthy for you," she said, before wincing and realizing how rude that sounded.

But he just laughed at it, blushing lightly. "Just some advice a friend gave me," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, then. Thank you." She gave him a small smile.

He smiled back at her before straightening. "Well, as fun as this was, I should go back on patrol. Are you going to be okay to find the other kids?"

She nodded. He may have had extraordinarily different problems than she did, but it felt like he had understood nonetheless. And talking to someone who understood had really helped to quiet the thunderous screaming in her mind. And he had helped with that problem, so before she could think enough to worry about the consequences, she decided to ask his help with the other pressing matter. "Yes, but before you go, can I show you something?"

"Sure," he said, leaning back against the railing again.

She pulled out her scroll, "My mother gave me this video. It shows my father colluding with someone to win the election, but I wanted to see if you knew if the man he's talking to is related to Salem at all."

She held her scroll out to him and pressed play, watching as his eyes went wide. He opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it again, seemingly waiting for the video to finish. Weiss knew it was only a short section her mother had given her, but she grew steadily more anxious as the seconds went by waiting for it to finish.

Finally, the video ended and Qrow looked up at her. "I had no idea he was involved with her, but I'm pretty sure that's Arthur Watts. Even if he's not with her, if half of what James has said about him is true, you need to get this to him and arrest your father. And if he can get in here, I definitely need to go back on patrol." He nodded to her, and then turned and jumped off the balcony, repearring shortly as he flew away.

She stood motionless for a moment, her anxiety crescendoing. That had not been what she expected. But, apparently, there wasn't time to dwell on that. She closed her eyes and steeled herself, taking a shaky breath before turning to run through the halls.


End file.
